The Curse
by Vinsmouse
Summary: When a man from Luke's past believes Luke has cursed him what lengths will he go to in order to remove the curse. Rated M just to be safe. NONSLASH COMPLETE
1. The Start

Disclaimer: I still don't own the Dukes of Hazzard or any of the characters other than original ones. No money being made just cheap thrills.

Warnings: Angst, Violence, Torture, NON-SLASH

Feedback: Feed me Seymour

Summary: When a man from Luke's past is convinced he is cursed, what lengths will he go to in order to lift the curse. 

First chapter will be mostly an original character, later chapters will have much more of Bo and Luke, but first we have to set the story.

The Curse

It was a beautiful day as the Duke family went about their various chores, unaware of the eyes that watched them. The man hidden in the tree looked on Luke with hate filled eyes as he thought about the last time he had seen Luke Duke. They had served in the Marines together, but he had never done as well as Duke. No matter what he did it seemed nobody noticed, unless it was to reprimand him, but not so with Luke Duke, he was the golden boy. Seemed everything he did turned out well,  
he could do no wrong, when he finally decided it was time to take Sgt.  
Duke out his luck ran true. When they caught him rigging the Sargent's rifle to explode in his hands nobody understood why he had to do what he did. They didn't get it Sgt. Luke Duke wasn't as good as everyone else thought he was and it was his fault that he, Mike Wilson could never get anywhere. Every time he failed he knew it was because of the curse put on him by Luke Duke, that's why he had to kill him,  
it was the only way to end the curse. But he failed and because of that he was sent to prison, locked up in the psych ward. Couldn't they see he wasn't crazy, he was cursed, he had spent his time trying to figure out why he'd failed. It should have worked he had been sure nobody saw him tamper with the rifle, after a long time he finally figured out the reason it hadn't worked. Before he could kill Luke Duke and end the curse he had to weaken him, but first he had to find out where he got his strength from. So now that he was here, he would watch until knew and then he would know how to weaken the man who had cursed his life and then he would kill him.

Over the course of the next several days Mike continued to watch Luke, it didn't take long for him to notice that Luke was almost always with the blond young man who must be a family member. They acted as close as brothers but he didn't think the Sargent had ever mentioned a brother, so if he wasn't Luke's brother who was he? He'd have to get closer somehow or maybe he could ask around, then he remembered the bar he had passed, something about pigs, what was it, oh yeah, The Boar's Nest. That's where he'd go, bars were always a good source of information, a couple of hours and a few beers later and he had his answer, Bo Duke, Luke's cousin and best friend. Now that he'd heard the name he remembered Luke talking about his younger cousin back in the Marines, so now he knew his strength came from the bond he had with his cousind and that was how he would weaken him.

It took a coulple of days to get everything ready, first he had to find a place and then he had to figure out how to get his hands on Bo.  
Of course the most important thing was to plan exactly what he would do to Bo in order to weaken Luke so he could kill him. Remembering a program he had seen while in prison he got an idea, as he thought about it he knew he had finally found the perfect way to end the curse that was on him. Before he could begin there were certain supplies he would need,  
this delayed his plans another couple of days as some of the things he needed were a little difficult, but finally everything was ready and in place. Mike began to follow Bo, waiting for a chance to catch him alone,  
when that chance came he was ready to move. He heard Luke's Uncle ask Bo to go over to Capital City in the pick-up and get some parts he needed for the tractor. Mike quickly headed to the road that would take Bo to Capital City, pulling off of the road, he hid his car from view.  
When he heard Jesse's truck coming Mike began walking, as Bo came along and saw Mike he pulled over to offer him a ride. All Bo saw was a glimpse of a man about Luke's height with blond hair and brown eyes, and then something stung him, when he woke up he was in an old barn, his hands tied to a rope flung over one of the beams. All Bo could think as he struggled to loosen the ropes was 'what kind of mess have I got into now'?

TBC

I know I'm mean but please review and tell me what you think so far anyway. 


	2. The Search

A/N: Here's another installment, I know it's short but I hope to have another chapter by this evening.

The Search

"Uncle Jesse!" Daisy called as she came running out of the house,  
both Luke and Jesse came running up to see what was wrong. "What is it Daisy, what's got you so upset?" Uncle Jesse asked.

"Oh Uncle Jesse, Enos just called on the cb, he found your truck over on Cottontail Lane but there wasn't anyone around."

"Bo wasn't there?" Luke asked as he headed to the cb in the General.  
Daisy shook her head as Luke grabbed the mic and began to speak. "Enos,  
this here's Luke Duke, does it look like the truck broke down?"

"Hi Luke, no the truck's fine, it started right up when I tried it.  
Daisy said Bo driving it but I don't see no sign of him." Enos replied.

"Yeah that's right, he was headed to Capital City, listen can you wait there for me? I'll be there in a few." Luke asked, the worry for his cousing coming through in his voice.

"Sure thing Luke, I'll be here." Before Luke could leave Uncle Jesse approached him, "Me and Daisy'll stay here in case Bo calls or comes home, you let us know what you find out. And Luke you be careful." Luke nodded in response and tore out of the yard in the General, he quickly arrived at where Enos had found Jesse's truck. Climbing out of the car he was joined by Enos as he began looking around. Trying to find something,  
anything that would tell him where Bo was, but there was nothing. No blood, no signs of a struggle, there were no footprints going down the road, so he hadn't simply walked away from the truck. What had happened to his cousin, it was as though he had just vanished into thin air. Luke radioed the farm and told Uncle Jesse and Daisy what he'd found or hadn't found was more like it. In no time at all they had organized a search for the missing young man. As they searched it soon became apparent nobody had seen Bo that day, they searched the rest of the day, returning home only when it became too dark to continue.

Uncle Jesse helped Daisy fix a quick supper while Luke paced the living room. "Luke," recieving no answer Jesse tried again this time a little louder, "Luke!" Luke turned to his Uncle surprised to see him in the doorway, "Yeah Uncle Jesse what is it?"

"Supper's ready why don't you come and eat something?" Uncle Jesse sighed when Luke shook his head. "I know you ain't hungy boy, none of us are but we got to eat. We have to keep our strength up if we're gonna find Bo, and we will find him" Uncle Jesse finished with conviction.

"I want to believe that Uncle Jesse I really do. But I'm...I'm scared,  
people don't just vanish like this so someone took him. I just don't know why or what might be happening to him." Luke said, swallowing hard.

"I know Luke, we're all scared, but you got to have faith that God will help us and He'll look out for Bo until we can find him. Now come on let's eat and then we'll do chores before bed and start fresh first thing." Jesse said as he placed a hand on Luke's shoulder and gently nudged him towards the kitchen. The meal was a quiet one, nobody felt much like talking, although Daisy had fixed a good meal none of them ate much either. They were all too worried about Bo to eat, as soon as they finished Luke and Jesse went outside to tend to the animals, while Daisy straightened the kitchen. No one slept much that night, about an hour before daylight Jesse and Luke headed out for morning chores so they could start searching again at daybreak. By the time they'd had a quick breakfast the first strands of light were beginning to show in the East. They soon picked up the search again, all of them concerned for Bo and trying not to show it. They had no way of knowing at the time, but three days would pass before they found Bo in the last place they would have expected. By that time though they would all be exhausted by worry, which would only worsen the shock they were in for. 


	3. Bo's Nightmare

A/N: Thanks for the reviews

Bo's Nightmare

Mike watched as Bo struggled trying to free himself, unaware of Mike's presence. "You know," Bo jumped at the sound of Mike's voice,  
"all you'll accomplish is to hurt yourself. Everytime you struggle you only make the knots tighter." Mike told him, coming to stand in front of Bo. Bo looked at Mike with anger filled blue eyes, "Who are you mister, what do you think you're doing?" When Mike only smiled in response Bo kept on, "Let me go, you got no right keeping me here like this. My family ain't got no money if that's what you're after, so you might as well let me go." Bo stopped speaking in surprise when Mike slapped his face. As his captor walked around him, saying nothing,  
only looking him up and down like a wolf eyeing a tempting piece of meat Bo's anger began to be replaced by fear. Bo gasped in pain when Mike's fist suddenly landed in his gut, before he had a chance to recover he felt another hit connect with his ribs. As the blows fell Bo began to moan in pain, he hated giving this man the satisfaction but he couldn't help himself. As suddenly as the beating had began it stopped and Bo was left alone once again. Bo spent the next several hours hanging by his wrists, wondering who this guy was and why he was doing this. When Mike had left the barn, Bo had at first tried to get loose,  
it didn't take him long to discover that Mike was telling the truth.  
All he did was mike his wrists bleed, while making the knots tighter. "I'll bet you're wondering who I am and why this is happening to you,  
aren't you?" the voice of Bo's captor suddenly asked, laughing as Bo jumped at his unexpected return. "Tell you what I'll give you a hint.  
..your suffering is Luke's fault."

"No, I don't know what game you're playing mister, but I know this ain't Luke's fault. You're the one who decided to do this, mabye it's some kind of twisted revenge against Luke, but that don't make it his fault." Bo protested his words as Mike simply shook his head at Bo's innocence. But he would destroy that innocence and in destroying Bo he would weaken Luke to the point that he could be killed, and so lift the curse. Bo's eyes widened in fear when Mike pulled out a knife, sighing with relief when all he did was cut Bo's shirt from his body.  
His relief was short lived as he saw the man reach into a bag and pull out a whip, it only took a few lashes for Bo's back to feel as though it were on fire. The whipping continued for what seemed like forever to Bo, he lost count of the number of strikes after fifteen. Mike was surprised Bo had lasted as long as he did, twenty-five lashes before he passed out, of course long before that the boy was screaming in pain. He allowed Bo to remain unconscious for a few minutes and then he woke him by rubbing salt into the wounds left by the whip. Bo awoke with a scream, the feel of burning starting again, he quickly realized his captor was putting something on his back that was causing him to feel even worse than he had before. When he finished Mike told Bo he would see him in the morning and left him to his suffering. After the man left all Bo could do was moan in pain, his back felt on fire, his wrists hurt where the ropes had cut them and his arms felt as though they had been pulled from their sockets. "God please help me, please let Luke find me soon." Bo prayed barely able to whisper, his voice was so strained from all the screaming he had done earlier.

All too soon morning arrived and with it more agony for poor Bo,  
on this second day his captor decided to focus on Bo's chest. Repeatedly burning him with cigarettes and the blade of his knife which he had heated until it was red hot. Mike would torture Bo like this for hours finally leaving him alone, only to return later. In the evening he began to use his knife for it's intended purpose, inflicting numerouse small cuts on Bo's chest and back. None of the cuts were deep or life threatening, they were made for the sole purpose of causing pain. Again he left Bo to spend the night suffering, barely able to get any sleep.  
The lack of sleep only adding to his misery, Bo was trying to keep faith but the longer he was made to suffer the harder that became.

On the morning of the third day Bo couldn't imagine what else this man could possible do to him, and he still didn't know why. He knew it had to do with Luke but had no idea why thim man hated Luke, or how his suffering played into it. And right on schedule here was his tormentor,  
"I think it's time we were properly introduced, my name is Mike Wilson and you are Bo Duke. I was in the Marines with Luke, but I'm afraid I didn't do as well as your cousin, took me awhile but I finally figured out why. See Luke had cursed me, that's why he succeeded where I failed,  
I tried to end the curse then, but he was too strong. That's why I failed and that's why you have to suffer, by the time I'm done Luke will be so weakened by grief he'll be easy to kill." Bo was horrified as Mike continued telling him in detail what he had planned for him and Luke. Mike reached into his bag and got a police baton which he proceeded to beat Bo with, finally stopping when Bo passed out. Leaving Bo alone for a couple of hours Mike returned ready for the next step, slapping Bo until he woke up so he could start. "Ah, you're awake, good, now we can get to the next part." Holding up a container filled with a white powder Mike went on. "This is the poison I told you about earlier, I made it myself so I know it's fresh. Oh don't be scared Bo, I'm sure it won't be that bad." So saying Mike scooped some of the powder into his hand,  
hitting Bo in the gut he blew the powder into his face at the same time.  
Waiting until Bo had stopped gasping for air he quickly cut him down. Carrying Bo to his car he soon arrived at his destination, removing Bo from the car he left him there and drove off.

Returning home from another day of searching Luke, Jesse and Daisy were surprised to see Bo laying on the porch. Quickly running up to the porch they were horrified at the condition Bo was in, but the worst was his eyes which were open in a lifeless stare. Shakily reaching to touch the side of Bo's neck, afraid of what he would find, Luke gave a cry of pure agony and denial, "Nooooooo!" his baby cousin was dead.

A/N: No you didn't miss Mike telling Bo about the poison you just weren't privy to that conversation.

If you want new, you must review. Please 


	4. Grieving

A/N: Thank you so much for all the review, now on with the story.  
' signifies thought

Grieving

'I can't believe this is really happening Bo, my youngest cousin, my best friend is gone. "I swear to you Bo I will find the bastard who did this to you. I'll make sure he pays for this, I'm so sorry you had to suffer so much before you died, I'm sorry I didn't find you in time. Whereever you are I hope you know I tried, we all tried to find you, I hope you can forgive me for failing you." Jesse Duke stood in the doorway with tears in his eyes as he watched Luke sobbing over Bo's body. "Luke son, it's not your fault, Bo knows, knew that. He wouldn't want you blaming yourself for what happened to him, you know that." Jesse said as he wrapped his arm around Luke's shoulder and guided him to the couch. He was beginning to regret his decision to have an old-fashioned wake, but Bo was a Duke and he deserved to be in his home this one last time. Deserved to be sent off the same way as his ancestor's, so hard as it was they would sit up with him, and as the old beliefs had it protect his body from evil until they could place him in Holy Ground.  
Jesse and Luke were soon joined by Daisy, as they sat there recounting the earlier part of the day, remembering all the friends who had been there to offer their support, they gained a small measure of comfort from this.

Something had woke him, as he looked around the room Luke saw Uncle Jesse and Daisy asleep on the couch. Knowing he wouldn't be able to get anymore sleep, he decided to make sure everything was secure, after all whoever had killed Bo was still out there. Wait there it was again,  
it sounded like a moan, but that couldn't be it, not coming from where it sounded like it was. Luke started to go into the kitchen when he heard his name being called, not believing what he was hearing he approached the coffin holding Bo's body. Steeling himself for disappointment Luke looked down at Bo's body and jumped back. Quickly going right back to the coffin he saw he hadn't imagined it, Bo's eyes were open. "Bo"  
he whispered afraid to break the spell that had given him back his cousin.  
"But you're de...how is this possible? i don't understand, is this real?  
are you really alive? I'm not dreaming?" Luke said as he slowly reached for Bo's hand and with his other hand began to stroke Bo's hair. "Luke"  
Bo whispered weakly, "not your fau...fault," Bo said nothing more for a few minutes gathering his strength to continue, "poison, he used poison,  
call...called it zombie powder, awful, heard everything, could feel,  
hate what he did to you all." Bo ground out haltingly and with difficulty.  
Luke looked at him in shock "My God, you mean all this time we thought you were dead, you were awake, aware of everything." at Bo's nod Luke carefully gathered Bo into his arms. "Luke," Uncle Jesse called, "son it'll be okay, you need to lay Bo back down and come outside. You need some fre..." suddenly he stopped speaking as he noticed Bo's eyes were open. "Bo, BO! you're alive, but that can't be, I mean how?" After Luke explained about the poison he moved Bo, with Jesse's help, into the bedroom. A few moments later the bedroom door was flung open as Daisy,  
having been told by Jesse what was happening, ran into the room and onto Bo's chest where she sobbed out the relief, fear and pain she was feeling.

As they talked Bo told them about Mike Wilson and his plans, knowing that Mike was probably watching the house and that Bo needed to be seen by a doctor Luke called Dr. Appleby and asked him to come out to the farm because Uncle Jesse was having chest pains but wouldn't leave the house. The doctor was completely surprised when he arrived at the farm and discovered Bo's resurrection. "Tetrodotoxin, that's the name of the poison, it's the main ingredient in so-called zombie powder, comes from puffer fish." the Dr. informed them upon hearing about the poison Bo had inhaled. He went on to explain, "it paralyzes the muscles and slows the heartbeat and respiration to such an extent the victim appears dead, but is not only alive but very much aware of everything that is happening to them."

"I think I read about this," Luke interrupted,"they use it in Haitii for revenge, after the person is buried alive, a voodoo priest digs 'em up and makes 'em think they're zombies." Suddenly Luke paled and nearly fell as he realized if Bo hadn't woke up he would have been buried alive.  
"Oh God we could have buried you..." Luke trailed off unable to continue.

"That was his plan, I wasn't supposed to wake up 'til after the funeral"  
Bo told them. When the Dr. learned that Mike had mixed the poison himself he told them he had probably and luckily miscalculated the dosage. "Bo you really should be in the hospital, I already know what you're gonna say, not until this guy is caught. So I'll make a deal with you, you let Luke and Cooter handle Mike Wilson and let me hook you up to an i.v.  
and I'll agree to you recovering at home. But the minute this guy is caught, you go to the hospital for x-rays, I'm sure nothings broken and there's no internal bleeding but we need to be completely sure, deal"  
The Dr. said as he was laying out the materials for the i.v. Bo quickly agreed. After agreeing to send Cooter to the farm the Dr. left, and Luke and Jesse began planning the capture of Mike Wilson. As they planned Luke told Jesse about Mike, what he had done in the Marines and his belief that Luke had cursed him. When Cooter arrived they told him about Bo, after giving him a chance to visit with Bo they laid out the plan. Once they were satisfied the plan was as sound as they could make it Luke suggested they all get some rest as tommorrow would be a big day.

A/N: Please review and if it's any comfort. I made myself cry at the start of this chapter and I knew where it was going. 


	5. The Funeral

A/N: Thanks for the review they really help with the writing. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy

The Funeral

The next morning Luke was awakened by the sounds of Bo's screams,  
quickly jumping out of bed he shook Bo's shoulder, waking him up. "It's okay Bo, you're safe now," Luke soothed his cousin as Bo lay with his eyes closed taking deep shuddering breaths as he tried to calm down.  
"You want to talk about it?" Luke asked softly.

"Not much to tell really it was just a nightmare." at Luke's disbelieving look he went on, "didn't think that would work. What do you want me to say Luke, for three days I was tortured and the only reason was cause the guy is crazy. Then he gives me that poison and I get to see ya'll's faces when you find me, hear you scream cause ya think I'm dead. All through the wake I could hear everything that was said,  
and I was in so much pain but I couldn't move or talk. And the worst part was knowing I was gonna be buried alive and Wilson was gonna use that to hurt you even more, he was gonna make sure you knew I was alive when you buried me. So ya know what I just want this guy caught and I wish I could go with you and Cooter but I know I can't, so I'll wait and trust you cause I know I can, then I just want to forget all of this"  
By the time Bo finished there were tears streaming down both their faces.  
"Bo I'm sorry you went through all that you did, I'd give anything if I could turn back the clock, but I promise we will get him. Now you said he was figuring on me coming back to your grave after the funeral and that's when he'll try to kill me." at Bo's nod, Luke continued. "Okay, I know you can't be there so I'll tell you the basic plan. After everybody leaves me and Cooter are gonna sneak back up there while Uncle Jesse goes and gets Roscoe and Enos to come back and help. We'll wait half an hour then I'll go to your grave while Cooter watches from hiding.  
When Wilson comes out after me he'll be in for a surprise and after we get him we'll have Roscoe and Enos take him to jail. By noon it'll all be over with and you'll be safe from him. Now we better start getting ready if we're gonna pull this off." As Luke stood up to begin getting ready Bo grabbed his hand, "Be careful cousin, he's crazy no tellin what he might do. I want you to come back in one piece, Luke promise me you'll be careful."

"I promise Bo you ain't got to worry about it. Mike Wilson is the only one who needs to worry, he's going down one way or the other."

"Luke one more thing, he aint worth you going to prison for." Bo told him. Luke's response was quick and instinctive, "Maybe not but you are, don't worry, much as I'd like to I don't plan to kill him but if that's what it takes then I will."

A few hours later found Luke and Cooter hiding in the trees near the cemetary, waiting to give Uncle Jesse time to come back with Roscoe and Enos. Plus they didn't want Mike Wilson getting suspicious if Luke showed up too soon. However it was Cooter and Luke who got surprised when they saw Wilson emerge from the other side of the cemetary. He was carrying a tape recorder which was hooked up to this thing that looked like a small satelite dish. "What in the world is that?" Cooter whispered. Luke began to shrug his shoulders when he realized what Wilson had probably planned. "I think it's a microphone, my God he must've planned to record Bo's reaction when he woke up buried alive.  
We've got to take him now, if he realized Bo isn't in there we might lost him." And with that they rushed from their hiding place to tackle Mike Wilson to the ground. Luke reached him first, he soon had him on the ground, as he pummled Wilson, Cooter tried to pull him off. "Come on Luke you're gonna kill him, LUKE! STOP!" turning when he heard several cars Cooter was glad to see reinforcements. Between the two of them Cooter and Roscoe were soon able to pull Luke from Mike Wilson.  
"Enos cuff 'em and stuff 'em," Roscoe ordered pointing at Wilson, this was when Mike Wilson spoke up. "I want him arrested for assault Sherriff"  
if he couldn't kill him Mike thought he'd settle for putting him in a cage of his own. "Don't know what you're talking about, all I saw was Luke Duke defending himself."

"But Sherriff that's not..." Enos began only to be stopped by Roscoe,  
"Hush up Enos you dipstick, now I say it was self defense you understand me?"

"Yes sir Sherriff, self defense" Roscoe gave a short nod, "Allright that's more like it, now you take him to the jail and call the Marshalls to come get him. They can take him back to prison where he belongs"  
Roscoe turned to the others "Jesse I'm real glad Bo's alive and I know he's probably not up to it yet, but I will need a statement about what Wilson did to him," Roscoe told them. Jesse quickly assured him they'd call him in a day or two, soon as Bo was up to a statement. 

When they returned home Daisy and Dr. Appleby were waiting, as soon as they were told Mike Wilson was in custody the Dr. called for an ambulance to take Bo to the hospital for a thorough exam, while Daisy excitedly hugged Cooter and Uncle Jesse. Luke had disappered into the bedroom before she could hug him, he wanted to tell Bo himself. Wanted to let him know he was safe, that Mike Wilson would never hurt him again.

TBC

Please review, I neeeeeed them! 


	6. The Recovery

A/N: Thank you for all the great reviews, now just because this is the last chapter doesn't mean you don't need to review. Please tell me what you think of my little story. Should I write you anymore stories?

The Recovery

Later at the hospital after what seemed to Bo like every test the doctor's had he was finally returned to the exam room. Given the ordeal he had endured the hospital had relaxed the rules and allowed his family to be in the exam room with him. "Bo," Dr. Appleby began as he entered the room, "I am happy to say there is no internal bleeding, however you do have a couple of cracked ribs and while your arm were not dislocated,  
a tremendous strain was put on them, so you will need to take it easy,  
get plenty of rest and no heavy lifting for the next month. After that we'll have to see how your progress is and decide where to go from there.  
I'm prescribing an anti-biotic ointment for your cuts and a burn ointment,  
also I'll give you painkillers and a mild seditive. Now like I told you last night you'll need to alternate ice and heat on your shoulders to help with the inflamation for the rest of today. Lastly you may need physical therapy for your shoulders but we won't consider that for at least two weeks." Turning to Jesse the Dr. said, "So Jesse take this young man home, make sure he gets plenty of rest and if any of you need to talk to someone, especially you Bo" he said as he turned back to the exam table, "call me and I can reccomend someone." Laying a gentle hand on Bo's forearm the Dr. looked him in the eye and said, "Bo I want you to rememeber somethin, there is no shame in asking for help, that applies to physical help and emotional. You've been through a terrible ordeal and nobody expects you to deal with it on your own. Okay?" Bo nodded and asked if he could get dressed now, everyone left the room to give him some privacy. Before he could move Luke returned "Hey, thought you might need a hand," Luke softly offered.

"Yeah, guess you're probably right," Bo admitted. After Luke had helped Bo get dressed they headed to the farm, by the time they got home Bo was exhausted and in pain, taking a painkiller he went back to the room he shared with Luke. When he woke up a few hours later he saw Luke sitting in a chair reading a book. "Ain't you got nothin better to do than sit with me cousin?" Bo asked feeling a little strange. He knew Luke had been worried about him, knew the rest of the family had been through their own hell while he was missing and when they thought he was dead. He knew all of it had been hardest on Luke but he wasn't use to having Luke hovering over him and he wasn't sure how he felt about it, and so in a typical Bo move he tried to make light of things. However this time Luke wasn't having any of it, "Actually no Bo I don't have anything better to do or anything I'd rather be doing. I know you ain't use to having anyone hover over you but I'm afraid you're just gonna have to deal with it for awhile. You were missing for three days Bo,  
you vanished into thin air and when we finally found you, we were too late. You were gone or so we thought, we expected to put you in the ground and never see you again and if Mike Wilson had gotten his way that is exactly what would have happened, and you better believe I thank God he failed. So like it or not cousin you're gonna have to deal with hovering, ain't none of us wanting you out of our sights right now"  
at this point Luke was forced to stop as it had become too hard to speak around the lump in his throat. "I'm sorry Luke, I didn't mean to worry everybody." Bo started to say only to find himself suddenly engulfed in a hug from Luke. "Don't,...Bo you've got nothing to feel guilty about,  
I just wanted you to understand how we all feel. Guess I thought if you know how we're all feeling it'll make the hovering a little easier to take. I sure didn't want to upset you...speaking of which I hate to bring this up, but Roscoe's gonna need a statement from you so Mike Wilson can be prosecuted for what he did to you. So in a day or two when you feel up to it we'll need to call Roscoe and have him come out."

"Now" Bo stated.

"What?" Luke asked puzzled

"Now Luke, call Roscoe now I want to get it over with."

"Are ya sure Bo? You don't have to rush yourself, he ain't going nowhere," Luke told him, worried that Bo was pushing himself. But Bo wasn't going to let himself be put off, "I know that, but waiting won't make it any easier, just..." When Bo lowered his head and stopped speaking, Luke reached out and putting his hand on Bo's chin raised his head until he could see his eyes. "Just what Bo, whatever it is you can say it, you don't have to be afraid of me you can say anything you need to. You know that right?" Bo nodded, "Yeah, I just, well...do you think,  
I'll understand if you can't, ...but could you be here when I talk to Roscoe?" he asked quietly almost fearfully. "Oh Bo, of course I'll be here, whatever you need cousin you've go it." Luke replied.

"Thank you Luke, I didn't want to ask but I don't think I can do it alone, so why don't you call Roscoe, the sooner he gets here the sooner I can get it over with." So Luke called Roscoe who arrived a short time later to take Bo's statement. It took a long time, with several breaks being neccessary but finally Bo had completed his statement. One of the hardest things Luke had ever done was to sit there and listen while Bo gave a detailed statement about his ordeal. He wanted to run from the room, wanted to be sick, it was one thing to know what Bo had suffered,  
but to hear it described in detail was it's own torture. As much as he would've liked to run from the room, from the reality of Bo's suffering he didn't, Bo hadn't been able to run. He had been force to endure the torture Wilson had inflicted on him, so Luke figured the least he could do was listen. After Roscoe left Daisy knocked on the door to tell them supper was ready. Deciding he could use a change of scenery Bo, with Luke's help, slowly made his way to the table. Later that night they were all awakened by Bo's screams as he was jolted awake by his nightmare.  
"Bo? you okay?" Uncle Jesse and Daisy asked as one as they came in the room. Bo could only nod as he tried to calm down while Luke held and comforted him. For the next several days Bo continued to be plagued by nightmares whenever he slept. Being awake wasn't a whole lot better as then he was suffering from pain.

He hated what this was doing to his family, expecially Luke, Bo knew Luke felt guilty for what he'd gone through. He'd tried several times to tell Luke it wasn't his fault and even though Luke agreed he knew his cousin was still beating himself up over this. He wished there was more he could do but he just didn't have the strength to fight Luke's demons on top of his own. Maybe he should talk to Uncle Jesse, yeah Uncle Jesse'd be able to help, between the two of them they could convince Luke to stop blaming himself. Like he'd told Mike Wilson it was Wilson's decision to kidnap and torture Bo, not Luke's. None of this was Luke's fault, Mike Wilson was crazy simple as that and the only one to blame.

Later after talking to Uncle Jesse the two of them cornered Luke in the living room. After talking for awhile and not feeling as though they were getting anywhere Bo decided he'd have to play dirty. "Fine you know what Luke you're right. It is your fault, you should have known Mike Wilson had broke out of prison and was after me. Shoot you should have known when you came home this might happen. If you had warned us none of this would have happened, for that matter you shouldn't have come home you should've known Wilson would follow you here sooner or later." Bo yelled at Luke. Luke was shocked, he couldn't believer Bo would talk to him like this, "That's not fair Bo, I didn't have any control over what Mike Wil...," stopping as he realized what Bo had been doing. Luke suddenly grinned, "sneaky, very sneaky cousin,  
allright you made your point and I'll accept it ain't my fault what Wilson did to you but you're gonna have to accept that I'm gonna feel bad for you."

"Deal, I don't like you feeling bad but that's better than you beating yourself up for something that wasn't your fault. I ain't never blamed you Luke even when he was tryin to get me to blame you, I wouldn't and I'm not gonna. So I better not catch you at it again after this." Bo told Luke who just grinned even more, "okay, okay, message received."

Thing improved a lot after that, a few days later Roscoe called to say Wilson had pled guilty to kidnapping and assault so Bo wouldn't have to testify. Bo was more relieved than he could say at this news, he hadn't told anyone yet but he had been dreading the trial. Knowing he would have to relive the torture was hard enough, but knowing he would have to do it in front of a room full of strangers was even worse. Bo hadn't realized himself how much the prospect of a trial had weighed on him until that prospect was gone. It felt like the weight of the world had been taken from his shoulders, he was almost giddy with relief. For the first time since coming home Bo slept free of nightmares. Of course he still had a long recovery ahead of him, he would still have nightmares but the worst of them were over. Physically he recovered much quicker,  
after two weeks it was decided he would need a few weeks of physical therapy, by the time six more weeks had passed Bo was fully recovered on a physical level. As time went on the nightmares grew fewer and fewer until a couple of months after the physical therapy ended the nightmares had stopped for the most part. Still he had a ways to go on the emotional recovery from his ordeal. It was six months before Bo could bring himself to go anywhere alone and even that was rare, for more than a year he wouldn't go near Cottontail Lane, unless Luke was with him in the General, even then he couldn't help shaking with fear. The day he was finally able to drive down Cottontail Lane alone he knew he was on his way to being okay. A couple of weeks later he faced his final test,  
he went to the cemetary to visit his parent's graves. For the first time since waking from that poison induced coma he could be here and not imagine himself next to his parents but still alive. He knew then it was finally and completely over, as Luke approached him he turned to him and with a peace he hadn't felt in over a year said, "it's over Luke, thanks to you, Uncle Jesse and Daisy, but mostly you. I finally feel free and at peace, let's go home." and flinging an arm over Luke's shoulder Bo steered them to the car and back to their lives.

The End

Please review and let me know what you think. 


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